Gorgons only turn men to stone. That was Emily's first thought every time she passed through the stone arch. It was more of a reflex than anything else. Emily had visited the gorgon a dozen times now. She knew she had nothing to fear from the gorgon, not anymore.

Men would journey from distant lands to slay the gorgon. They never succeeded. It would be humorous if the brothers and sons of these "heroes" didn't keep arriving to "avenge" their deaths. They claimed it was for the sake of the village, but the gorgon was no threat to the village. The gorgon just wanted to be left alone. At least she did; until she met Emily. Now Emily had to visit her every week to keep her calm.

It wasn't difficult. At first it was just a few follow ups to make sure she was okay. When they first met, Emily had found the gorgon at the base of the cliff below her cavern entrance. She was bleeding from a lucky blow some adversary had landed. Emily patched her up and helped her to her cavern. It was the most terrifying moment of her life... Until her village elders insisted she returned to check on the gorgon. Now, Emily knew she had nothing to fear. The gorgon cared about her.

When Emily visited her, the gorgon was more of a presence. Though she insisted that Emily visit her every week, the gorgon rarely spoke. Emily talked about town gossip while she weaved on a small hand loom. The gorgon listened from the shadows and occasionally moved forward while Emily's back was turned to fuss with her hair.

That was what Emily was expecting when she walked down the echoing hall towards the largest chamber of the cavern. She never expected to be seized by rough hands. Her basket fell to the floor. Before Emily could scream a knife tip pricked her throat. A harsh voice hissed in her ear, it stank of meat, and ordered her to be silent. Emily could hear the gorgon moving swiftly towards them.

"She knows that you took me." She choked. The man laughed. This was planned. Emily was the gorgon's weakness. He would use Emily to kill the gorgon. But before he could do anything a hissing shadow surged from the darkness and wrenched him away from Emily. Emily fell to her knees. The man's muffled screaming grew quickly fainter. Once it was gone, Emily shakily collected her basket. She walked the rest of the way to the main chamber and took a seat on the stone bench she always used.

Eventually she heard the gorgon return. The gorgon slowly approached, hesitantly. When Emily felt a light, comforting hand brush her hair she turned and threw her arms around the gorgon. She sobbed into the surprised gorgon's chest and did not let go until the gorgon was gently hugging her back.

This was originally written way back on May 28, 2015 (almost a year ago!) it was one of my very first blog stories, but I wasn't terribly confident in it, so I put it aside until now. I hope you enjoy!